SALT LAKE CITY — Entering Friday’s Sweet 16 volleyball match, Utah and Stanford were very familiar with each other. The Utes and Cardinal had played two times before this matchup, with Stanford claiming the first meeting at Maples Pavilion 3-2 and the second in Salt Lake 3-1.
“It’s really hard to beat a good team three times and Utah is one of those teams. Each time we’ve played them, it was really hard to beat them. Here in Maples they had two points the first time (in October), and back in Salt Lake, it was a battle,” Stanford outside hitter Kathryn Plummer told ESPNU after the match.
Stanford was able to win the third, and most important, match against the Utes to advance to the Elite Eight, but not without a fight from the Utes.
Utah fell to Stanford 3-2 (25-22, 14-25, 10-25, 25-12, 11-15), in a tough, five-set battle.
“Tonight, it was definitely a battle. You kind of just know each other’s tendencies, it’s a head-to-head battle the whole night and we came out on top, but it was definitely a battle,” Plummer said.
Plummer led the Cardinal, finishing with 29 kills. Dani Drews had 18 kills for the Utes and Kenzie Koerber and Berkeley Oblad added 12 kills each.
Utah got off to a fast start on the road. The Utes took a quick 12-5 lead in the first set that positioned them to later win the frame. After Stanford battled back and tied the set up at 21-21, Utah went on a 4-1 run to close the set. Drews had three kills in that span.
Stanford showed why it was the No. 3 team in the nation in the second and third sets. The Cardinal easily took the second set 25-14, then added to that dominance by winning the third set 25-10. Plummer had nine kills in the third set.
Just when it was looking like Stanford was going to roll to a 3-1 victory, Utah — as it has done all season — fought and clawed its way back to force a fifth set by winning the fourth set 25-12. The Utes jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the set and didn’t look back. Utah used six straight points to extend its lead from 13-10 to 19-10. Koerber had four kills in the set and Zoe Weatherington added three.
Koerber appeared to be shaken up after going into the chairs to start the fifth set, but came back into the match and on the next point, registered a kill. The Utes and Cardinal traded points throughout the beginning of the set, but after Utah took a 6-5 lead on a Stanford service error, the Cardinal responded with a 5-0 run to regain the lead, 10-6. Utah made a run of its own to cut the lead to one at 11-10, but it would be all Stanford from that point on, as the Cardinal finished on a 4-1 run led by Plummer and Meghan McClure to advance to the Elite Eight. Plummer was excellent in the fifth set, tallying seven kills.